The present invention relates to product handling systems and, more particularly, to product handling systems for receiving product items, accumulating the product items into groups and transferring the grouped product items to a receptacle.
Packing machines for food articles of uniform size and shape are typical of product item handling systems, and include components for delivering product items individually, accumulating the product items into groups of a selected number of items, arranging the groups of items in an array of groups on a staging area and transferring the array of groups of items from the staging area to a receptacle.
Typically, the receptacle comprises a plurality of recesses which correspond in size and arrangement to the array of groups of product items on the staging area.
An example of such a product handling system is a food article filling head of the type disclosed in Phelps et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,385. That patent discloses a food article filling head having an input conveyor for delivering individual food items, an index pusher for receiving the food items from the input conveyor and accumulating the items into groups, a staging area for receiving an array of groups of food items, and a ram assembly for displacing the array of groups of food items downwardly through trap doors in the staging area into a receptacle. The filling head includes an assembly of sprockets and sprocket chains which interconnect the input conveyor, index pusher, and a flywheel which is part of the ram assembly. All of these components are driven by a single power source, which requires that the sizes of the sprockets in the assembly be adjusted to provide the necessary synchronization of operation between the components.
The invention also includes a computer control which senses the position of the index pusher and, at the appropriate period in the cycle of the index pusher, energizes a clutch in the sprocket linkage to actuate the ram assembly.
A disadvantage with such systems is that, in order to adjust such systems to operate differently, such as varying the number of items per group of accumulated food items, or varying the size or number of groups in an array on the staging area, it is necessary to perform a laborious operation of sprocket replacement in order to change the sprocket tooth ratios among the components to vary the speed and sequencing of the components. Such a process requires considerable system downtime, and further is expensive to implement since it requires a number of closely-toleranced sprocket components. Accordingly, there is a need for a product filler head system which minimizes downtime and is capable of making rapid adjustments in the relative speeds and sequencing of the components.